Posts Tagged ‘custom’

Nintendo Latest Call of Duty | World Articles

The online play for the Wii brings the game to its best in more ways than one with the custom weapon classes you can build.

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Night-vision mode could double your Android’s battery life

To what lengths would you go to extend the battery life of your Android phone? Would you switch your display to night-vision mode if it could reduce the power consumption in half? Android engineer Jeff Sharkey has discovered a fun hack that a allows you to power each specific color channel (red, green, and blue) found in an AMOLED display. Organic LED displays have separate pixel elements for each color channel so powering only one color can save quite a bit of power. Which colors use the least amount of power? Jeff hooked up an industrial power meter and found that powering only the red pixels could nearly double the battery life. “Filtering to show only red pixels only requires 35% of the original baseline OLED panel current, on average. Adding back the baseline current, the best case overall is about 42% of the original system current, effectively doubling the battery life. Also, showing only red pixels doubles as an awesome night vision mode, perfect for astronomy.” Jeff Sharkey Android Software Engineer For the full details on how to apply the hack, be sure to visit Jeff’s blog . This looks like an interesting tool to conserve some power at night, so I expect we will see this feature built into some of the custom ROMs like CyanogenMod . RSS feed brought to you by the Android and Me Store Related Posts HTC switching to Sony Super TFT LCDs from Samsung AMOLEDs 5 reasons to get excited about Samsung’s Super AMOLED HTC EVO hack kills 30FPS cap Samsung’s Super AMOLED display takes on LCD and AMOLED in direct sunlight T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G Slide gets rooted, just like all HTC phones

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Quick Look At The T-Mobile Garminfone

Ok, we’ve seen a ton of pictures of Garmin’s first entry into to the Android game. Now there’s a video of this handset in action. The guys over at Tmonews managed to get their hands on this video. Another custom UI comes with the introduction of this phone. It’s designed to fulfill all your GPS needs, we finally get a chance to see how it works. Hopefully after viewing this video you now know what to expect from this device. Judging from the video, you will not get the feel of a real Android device from this phone. That’s a good and bad thing, it’s great to see the versatility of the OS but if you’re looking for the full Android experience this may not be the device for you. The UI isn’t really appealing either but if you travel a lot, this will surely give you a more robust navigation experience then Google Maps (Maps got me stranded a few times). And look at the bright side, this device isn’t out yet so hopefully some of its shortcomings will be ironed out before its release. Click here to view the embedded video. [via tmonews ]

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Android Hacks: How to fully customize the look of your ROM with MetaMorph

Have you ever seen a theme online and thought, “Why can’t I just have the app drawer tab and leave the rest stock?” Or, “I wish I could change my bootscreen and leave the rest alone.” Well, developer Stericson has found the answer. He’s a very well known dev around these parts and you can thank him for making an app called Metamorph . Metamorph is basically an app that lets you pick apart pieces of the UI on your custom ROM and theme it however you like! So you can pick apart the pieces of themes you like and combine them to make a whole new theme catered to your liking. The app can be a little tricky if you’re using it for the first time but that’s why I’m going to walk you through it and gain full control over the look of your favorite ROM. First thing to do is download Metamorph from the Market (the donate version works better than the free one). Then find a theme (or part of a theme) that SUPPORTS Metamorph. Here’s a list of them on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showt… If you want the Espresso theme by Ultra Spikey that I used in this video: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showt… Always perform a Nandroid or save using SwitchROM/BART before modifying any part of your ROM in case of incompatibilities. To apply a theme, make a folder on the root of your sd card and name it “AndroidThemes”. Then find the theme (or part of the theme) that’s compatible with your ROM and download the zip file. Extract the zip file of the theme into the “AndroidThemes” folder. Now, open your Metamorph app, click on the “Existing Themes” button and look through the folders until you find the .thm file. Select it and you will be asked to apply the whole theme or parts of the theme (if its a FULL theme). Select “Apply All” or pick the specific parts and you’re all set! Note : Some themes or parts of a theme may require a reboot. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Originally I was pretty hard on Metamorph simply beause I didn’t know how to use it. But now that I do, I think its a such a great idea and will provide a better user experience for anyone looking to customize the look of their custom ROM. Thanks to all the awesome themers out there! You guys do amazing things and we all appreciate it! Special thanks to Stericson for making this app so we could all gain a better user experience from our phones. Related Posts Android Hacks: Video review of SuperCSDIv4 for the G1 Android Hacks: Improve reception for G1 and myTouch3G Disappointment: Engadget goes hands on with AT&T Dell Aero MyTouch Fender LE announces comeback tour Samsung Galaxy S: Hands on wrap up

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T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ XT review

Launching later this month, the Motorola CLIQ XT is the newest Android device from T-Mobile. This phone features many similarities of the original Motorola CLIQ, but there are some notable differences. Has Motorola made enough improvements over the original CLIQ to win us over? Build Hard keys and touch pad Form factor: The biggest departure from the original CLIQ is the subtraction of the physical keyboard. As a result, the CLIQ XT is extra thin (XT?) and feels much nicer in the hand (or pocket). We were never that big a fan of the CLIQ’s keyboard layout, so we can’t say it is that big of a loss. The CLIQ XT features the same 3.1 inch touchscreen along with almost identical hardware of the original device. Motorola has improved the button layout on the front of the phone by adding dedicated keys for Back, Home, Menu, and Search. A touch navigation pad is located between the buttons and it can also be clicked. The touch pad has a nice textured coating and we had no issues navigating around. Dedicated camera, power, and volume keys are located on the sides of the device along with a 3.5 mm headset jack and micro USB port. Thin little guy Styling: Two interchangeable battery covers are included with the device. Customers can choose from a soft-touch black cover or a glossy purple back. We don’t normally see handset makers include two battery covers so it is nice to have a choice. Unfortunately, the CLIQ XT has the most annoying cover design I have ever seen. I broke my fingernail and dropped the phone a couple of times trying to swap the back cover out. It takes two hands and extreme concentration to pop it off. Software With Motoblur OS: Our biggest gripe with the CLIQ XT is the Android 1.5 firmware that powers the device. This outdated version of Android will prevent you from installing the latest apps and I’m surprised to see it still being used on news phones. Motorola is planning to update the original CLIQ to Android 2.1 this Q2 2010, so hopefully we will see a matching firmware for the CLIQ XT. Motorola has included Motoblur which is their custom flavor of Android. It offers additional features like social media integration and mobile backup, but it is starting to show its age. Newer versions of Android (2.1) now include multi account support and integrate easily with social networks like Facebook. Hopefully, Motorola will roll out some new features for Motoblur when they update to the Android 2.1 firmware. For more information on Motoblur, visit the official Motorola site . Bundled apps: Just as we saw with the CLIQ, Motorola and T-Mobile have decided to bundle several Android apps with the CLIQ XT including MySpace, Quickoffice, Slacker, Swype, TeleNav GPS, and a few others. We appreciate the effort to include some cool apps, but Motorola has blocked the uninstall option for these programs. Android phones are notorious for their limited internal storage space for apps , so it is disappointing to have someone else dictate how that gets used. Camera The CLIQ XT includes a 5 megapixel camera with flash, auto focus, and digital zoom. Taking still photos with the CLIQ XT produced excellent results. The pictures look clean and crisp and they are comparable with ones I have taken on my Nexus One. Sample photos: distance close up detail Sample Video: We shot a quick sample video and you can find the results below. The CLIQ XT can in no way compete with the HD video capture of the Nexus One, but it gets the job done. If you want a phone primarily for video, pass on the CLIQ XT. Extras FM radio: Not many Android phones have a working FM radio, so it is nice to see Motorola include one with the CLIQ XT. Users must plug in the supplied headphones to launch the radio application and it appears they operate as the antenna. Our demo unit was missing the headphones, so it was difficult to fully test this feature. We tried several spare headsets and experienced mix results. Flash: First generation devices like the CLIQ XT will not support Flash 10.1 , but Motorola has included a version of Flash Lite with their phone. Flash Lite is based off an older version of Flash so some objects work and some don’t. We tried several different Flash sites and some loaded, but the experience was generally disappointing. Flash ads slow the browser down and Flash games are hard to play because they are not designed for the small screen. Multitouch: Google did not support multitouch APIs till Android 2.1, but Motorola has implemented some gestures in the CLIQ XT. Both the browser and gallery have pinch zoom controls, but Maps does not. At least CLIQ XT users can experience some multitouch gestures, but they will have to wait till Android 2.1 for full support. Conclusion So which phone is right for me? I may be over simplifying things, but I think we have two types of customers: those who own Android phones and those who don’t. If you have purchased a previous Android phone, there is virtually no reason to consider buying this phone. The specs are from last generation and the software is outdated. For those that are new to Android, the CLIQ XT is a nice phone and I would suggest it over any non-Android phone that T-Mobile offers. However, Android has so much more to offer and a wave of new phones is around the corner. Waiting just one month could result in a faster phone with better specs that runs the latest version of Android. Basically, the CLIQ XT would have been competitive if it was released a year ago. T-Mobile has yet to provide the full retail pricing, but that really has no bearing on our opinion. The original CLIQ retails for $399 ($99 w/ 2yr contract), so we expect it to fall in that same range. RAD: 5 megapixel camera takes excellent photos, touch navigation pad works well, external speaker is super loud, pinch zoom controls are a nice addition to the browser and gallery, FM radio – not many Android phones have one, two interchangeable back options, Flash Lite – not the full version, but better than nothing. SAD: Android 1.5 – unable to install latest Android apps, last generation specs – same CPU as the T-Mobile G1, video capture quality is lacking, cannot remove bundled applications, removing battery case is an exercise in frustration Video review We had a video all complete and ready to post but YouTube just rejected it based on length. I searched around before uploading and numerous sites said YouTube ‘partners’ were allowed to upload any length video. Apparently, this is not the case. YouTube even goes through the act of letting you upload and trying to encode before rejecting, which is a nice way to waste an hour and a half if you are ever interested. Check back tomorrow for the recut video. Gallery See all the pics on Flickr or peruse them below:

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App Review: WeFi

We often take it for granted but it is great to be able to carry these small devices around with constant web and data connections. While each of us have our respective wireless providers, many prefer to connect through WiFi wherever possible. Why? Because in most cases it is free. This is very important if you are abroad and want to avoid huge roaming charges. Then it is generally faster and less congested than your carrier's network. The problem is that in many cities there are too many connections to choose from. How can you know which one of the ten available access points is the one to safely and freely use... A lot of trial and error. WeFi can help you. WeFi is using crowdsourcing to get a map of all the best WiFi access points so that your device (not you) will always knows which one is the best to hock up to. They have clients for most platform as well as an  online map of the access points in their database. Obviously out of the 52 million points in the database, not all are open and free and there are certainly a lot more in Manhattan than in remote villages in Eastern Europe. However, if you have a look at the map and the live counter on WeFi website you'll see that the database is growing very fast. WeFi runs in the background of your Android phone and will connect to the best access points available whenever the device needs. Among the custom settings, users can define their 'home' network, decide how the app behaves when plugged in, and more. There is also some sort of cache in the app so it will know, without having to access the internet, which one of the access points around you are the best. The main avantage of this app is that it is transparent to the user. It's not necessary to register new access points you find or submit anything - it will be done automatically. For those concerned about privacy, it will never share WEP or WPA keys or paid login/password with other users. WeFi keeps you safe on your phone and protects your home or work network. This App Was Tested Using : Nexus One running stock Android 2.1 and HTC Hero running MCR2.8. Presentation : The icons are clear and the screens easy to find though the little running logo could become annoying. Value: Free, can't do better than that. Stability/Resources: When there are too many access points and the app doesn't know which one to use it will try most of them and this process can be sometime frustrating. Bottom Line: Check the map to find out first about the WiFi around the places you visit often to decide if it will be worth using or maybe you will be willing to map ans share the network around these places if it doesn't exist. Click here to view the embedded video. WeFi also have an  API available if you want to use this technology in your app. This is what have done the developer of  LooKATOR , a augmented reality app that shows you the wifi access points around you. Might We Suggest... 10 Android Apps You Need To Download NOW! by Scotty Brown Have you ever seen one of those lists on a tech site giving you this list of apps that they claim are the end-all-be-all of lists? The type of article that swears up and down that w...

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CLIQ XT to Run $129 with 2-Year Agreement

T-Mobile's next Android handset, the Motorola CLIQ XT is dropping with a great price attached to it. At $129.99, this marks the lowest debut price point for an Android phone on the nation's fourth largest carrier. Yet-to-be-announced, the handset is a touch-only device that was once known as the Zeppelin. It should be noted that while more expensive on contract than the G1, it's $40 less if you buy it outright. The CLIQ XT will be $329 if you decide to purchase one without a service agreement. In fact, this will be T-Mobile's least expensive Android handset if purchased alone. A quick rundown of specs peg the handset at 528 MHz processor speed, 256MB RAM/512ROM, a megapixel camera w/ autofocus and LED flash, and MOTOBLUR (Android 1.5). This marks the first handset from Motorola to feature their custom user experience on top of a touch-only handset. Also noteworthy, the CLIQ XT also features Adobe's Flash Lite built in, giving the phone an improved web experience over other Android handsets. If you're interested in picking up a CLIQ XT, they're rumored to drop on March 10th. What do yo guys think of this handset and pricing? Are you swayed either way now that you know the costs involved? Might We Suggest... Listen Up! Podcast #39 is On Demand Our latest podcast, #39, is in the can and available for downloads and streaming. Joining me this week was resident AndroidGuy Sam Herren, Nick Gray (HTC Source), and Andrew Kamika (Androinica). Als...

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6 Free Android Apps That Will Make You Drop Your iPhone

The Android Market may still lag behind the iPhone App Store in terms of variety and quality, but there is something to be said for the Android operating system’s extremely tight integration with existing Google products, and the wide choice of devices and carriers. There’s no question that the iPhone has many wonderful apps, but Android’s smart syncing with existing tools, interesting Android-only experiments coming every day from Google employees, and its open marketplace model have yielded some tools that may give the average iPhone user pause. If you’re looking for a change, or you’re in the smartphone market and still weighing the pros and cons, consider these Android-only apps and how they might fit into your work, play, and mobile lifestyle. 1. OpenHome There’s no denying that the iPhone OS is a gorgeous piece software. But when it comes to the home screen, “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset,” to quote a nursery school mantra. Android is completely open-source, which means that apps can change the functionality and appearance of the OS, if you permit them to. This isn’t always good for safety, but it’s great for customization. OpenHome is one of the leading customization apps available on the Market. It functions as a replacement for the default home screen, into which you can load customs skins, icon packs, and fonts — many of which are freely available in the Market and created by other users. In addition to the look and feel of your OS, OpenHome also allows for other custom tweaks including soft keyboard improvements and widget modifications. 2. Google Voice Imagine a world where you never have to listen to another voicemail again. That’s almost what you get when you set up Google Voice and utilize the Android app. Google Voice lets you keep your existing mobile number, but will forward your missed calls to a generated Google number that you can check on the web, in your e-mail, or via the app. The service automatically generates voicemail transcription that is usually accurate enough to get the gist of what the caller is saying. Instead of getting a voicemail on your phone, you’ll receive and e-mail (or text message) with the transcription. The app then lets you scroll through your messages visually, like an e-mail inbox, and stream the audio messages from the web as needed, all without wasting precious mobile minutes. There are certainly other great voicemail alternatives for the iPhone (and Voice is available as a web-based service), but Google Voice’s deep integration with Gmail (you can also enable audio playback within web e-mail messages) makes it a great compliment to your hand-held arsenal of communications tools. Google Voice is still an invite-only service at the moment. You can request an invite from Google here , or hit up your friends on social networks for one. 3. NESoid Classic gamers rejoice! NESoid is a Nintendo ROM emulator for Android that actually works. The app itself is software that interprets ROM files — the format of choice for hacked console games. Assuming you’re loading a worthwhile ROM file from your SD card, the gameplay is really smooth. The lite version of NESoid is free, but prevents you from loading a “saved-state” of a game. The full version will cost you $3.49 and unlocks this feature. Most ROMS are not exactly kosher in terms of copyright, so we’ll leave it at your discretion whether you want to actually track down the games. This is likely why console emulators have not made it through the stringent App Store approval process, but are now appearing in Android’s more liberal Market. 4. Google Finance If you’ve got an eye on your stock portfolio 24/7, Google Finance can be a useful tool for getting customized, real-time quotes. The Android app syncs directly to your Google Finance portfolios and streams live data right into your hands by way of quote updates, charts, and financial news. Android is currently the only mobile platform with an official Google Finance app. 5. Google Listen Google Listen is a unique offering from Google Labs that functions like a search engine and subscription tool for podcasts across the web. If you’re on the train and realize you’ve forgotten to download the latest episode of NPR’s This American Life , simply fire up Google Listen, search for it, and stream it immediately, from the source. Google Listen effectively eliminates the need to download podcasts or connect your handset to your computer. And with subscription options built in, once you find a show you like, you’ll never miss an episode while you’re on the go. 6. Gmail and Google Calendar Last but not least, the utility of the fully integrated Gmail and Calendar apps that come built-in to the Android OS cannot be overstated. One of the core reasons why any Gmail or Google Apps user should go Android is that the handset will complete your suite of cloud computing productivity tools. Because of the intrinsic link between your Android phone and your Google account, the mobile functionality of Google apps like Gmail and Calendar are seamless. Draft an e-mail on your phone and it is instantly viewable in your drafts folder on the web. Update an appointment on the web Calendar, and it’s reflected on your phone seconds later. Android users also enjoy the built-in functionality of shared calendars, Gmail labels, threaded conversations, and “Send As” accounts if it is configured in your settings. If you live and work out of your Gmail inbox, an Android handset is the perfect extension. More Android resources from Mashable: - 7 Mind-Blowing Free Android Apps - Free Multiplayer Android Games [3 of the Best] - 3 News Apps for Android Compared - The Best Free Twitter Apps for Android - 30 Android Apps to Watch - 8 Android Apps Worth Paying For (And Some That Aren’t) Reviews: Android , Gmail , Google , Google Labs , Google Voice Tags: android , apps , gaming , gmail , Google , google apps , google finance , Google Listen , Google Voice , iphone , List , Lists , Mobile 2.0

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Nexus One: To root or not to root…

That is the question. Having just replaced my G1, I immediately reviewed the process to achieve root on my new Nexus One, and checked out some of the custom ROMs available at the Nexus section of the xda forums. But I also kept using my new phone and marveling at how amazing it was–how quickly

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 will get Android update… eventually

It’s not exactly the shortest explanation we’ve seen, but over at the official Sony Ericsson blog the company have confirmed that they’ll be upgrading the XPERIA X10 to the latest version of Android. That is, they will do at some unspecified point; the issue is, as expected, the custom UI and Sony Ericsson’s Mediascape and Timescape apps, which were built for Android 1.6 and will require re-working in order to integrate with newer versions of the platform. “Then I introduce the signature applications; Sony Ericsson Timescape and Mediascape and the focus of the discussion shifts from talking about this layer on top of Android, that I refer to as the Sony Ericsson User Experience platform. I now find myself discussing the total experience rather the OS version in isolation with a great appreciation about what we are bringing to the table. Then the interest of the User Experience platform future roadmap gets to be the talking point instead. What I hope to get across to you all, is that there will be a software update for Xperia X10 that will upgrade the complete Sony Ericsson User Experience Platform based on newer version of the Android OS.” Sumit Malhotra, Official Sony Ericsson Blog The company reckons that – when considered as a whole software environment, with their customization works – even running OS 1.6 the XPERIA X10 holds up to the generic Android 2.1 competition. Still, there’s no timescale for when we could see a newer Android build on the X10 – look at the delays in updating the HTC Hero for an example of how a promised refresh can take longer than expected – so the short answer is to only buy the phone if it suits your needs out-of-the box. [ via the::unwired] Related posts: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Due for Release on January 18th? Hands-on Video Demo of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Sony Ericsson Android-powered XPERIA called “Rachael” )

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